While personal reflection and careful consideration of a film can lead to successful essays, additional research is often necessary to sharpen and develop a writer’s interpretation and argument. Two types of research materials include primary and secondary sources.

Primary research sources include film scripts and films on videotape and DVD. These sources have a direct and close relationship with the original film.

Secondary research sources—including books, critical essays, and Internet sites—contain ideas or information from outside sources such as film critics or scholars.

Once research materials have been gathered, selected, and integrated into an essay, these sources must be properly documented.

There are two kinds of research material that require documentation: direct quotation from a secondary source and paraphrasing, in which the writer puts ideas from another source into his or her own words. Full documentation for every source quoted or paraphrased in your essay should be included in the Works Cited section.